Cambridge English Readers for Beginner and Basic Students

Reading for pleasure is one way to learn more vocabulary and practice your English. Cambridge University Press publishes original English Readers by level. Here are a few of their titles, with a blurb about the plot:

Ghost Story
The Girl at the Window by Antoinette Moses

For Grace, a ghost in a haunted house, the arrival of a young mother with a baby stirs the memories of the man and child she lost so many years before. But then danger threatens the baby girl and Grace must act decisively.

Murder Mystery
A Death in Oxford by Richard MacAndrew

When Dr Leighton is murdered Inspector Frank Williams and Sergeant Kate Miller set out to track down her killer. Was it her husband, her son or her colleague? All had reasons to hate her but which one killed her?

Comedy
What a Lottery! by Colin Campbell

Rick Drummond is a music lover without a job who dreams of making it big in the world of music. The people around him think he's just a dreamer, or a loser. When his wife walks out on him it seems the real world is falling around him. But then his luck changes when he wins the lottery. Is this really a change of fortune for Rick or is he about to lose again?

Science Fiction
Let Me Out! by Antoinette Moses

Nolan is a robot created by a lonely electronics expert, John, to run his home, cook and do the ironing. but Nolan is not content; he wants to be human. When he realises that this is not possible, he turns against John, who finds there is no escpe from his malevolence.

Thriller
The Penang File by Richard MacAndrew

Secret agent, Ian Munro, is dispatched to Penang to stop an assassination attempt on the Prince (a member of the British Royal Family who is there on a state visit). Munro tracks down the assassin, identifies where and how the "hit" will take place, but can he foil the assassination attempt in time?

Dirty Money by Sue Leather

Joe lives in Canada, in a beautiful, quiet place. His peace is interrupted one day by the noise of bulldozers excavating near his house. He is told that it's a diamond mine. Joe is a journalist for a local newspaper and his neaighbours soon come to ask him to write about the awful noise and destruction. Joe becomes suspicious when his boss won't let him write about it. He starts to invesitgate the mine, but gets himself in harm's way.

Places

Listen to someone talk about Key West, Florida. What things does she say about where she lives?

What city or country do you live in? What is it like?

Take this fun musical quiz

How much do you know about English music from the past fifty years? Take this quiz and see how many of the bands you can get right!



Answers will be posted in the comments section.

Cycle 5 Begins with Lines of Students

Cycle 5 began today, but you wouldn't have known it if you had looked at the lines in registration! A friendly reminder: register early and avoid LONG lines. Every cycle near the third exam coordinators come around to the classes to hand out the pre-registration forms. Take advantage and get in early!

On the bright side, next cycle starts on January 14, so there will be more time to register between cycles.

Don't wait until the last minute!

Michael McCarthy in Ecuador

Michael McCarthy, author of the popular series Touchstone, English Vocabulary in Use, as well as various other famous titles, will be in Quito and Guayaquil next week. Come meet the author of these ELT books and learn more about Corpus Linguistics at his seminar, "Spoken Fluency in Theory and Practice", in Guayaquil on October 10, 4-7 pm in Centro Empresarial Las Cámaras, Salón Las Cámaras, or in Quito on October 11, 4-7 pm, Centro Cultural de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. Reservations through the Quito-Guayaquil offices need to be made in order to ensure seating.
From the seminar invitation:

Fluency is a word we use a lot in language teaching and speaking a language fluently is seen as the ultimate goal for many learners. But what exactly is fluency in spoken language? Is it that language just "flows" from us without our needing to practice or rehearse? Is it the ability to speak fast, to speak smoothly, to speak without faltering and hesitating? If so, then many native speakers fail the test. in this presentation we look at notions of fluency, present examples of antive- and non-native spoken fluency, and conclude that fluency is a property of conversations rather than jsut a talent of individuals. We look at how fluency can be promoted in the classroom.

South American Education Fair

Education fairs are popular among students looking for universities and colleges abroad. There are no education fairs scheduled in Ecuador at the moment, but if you find yourself in Chile, Peru, Argentina or Brazil, you might want to check out the South American EducaitonUSA Fair 2007. If you do go, why not post a comment and let us know what you thought?

Cartoons for English Language Learners

Like to read cartoons? The British Council site has a cartoon-of-the-week feature. The cartoons are adapted for English language learners and often focus on a play on words. You can go into their archives for theme-related cartoons, on topics as diverse as animals, restaurants, and sports.